Visually impaired people employ a variety of assistance devices on the day-to-day basis, the most common of which is the conventional white and red cane. Canes are employed to detect obstructions below waist-level, such as curbs, stones and objects that extend vertically from the ground. However, because canes have a distal end that travels at ground level, they cannot detect obstacles suspended above the ground, such as structural overhangs and low-hanging branches. Other devices have been developed that attach to the cane to provide additional information, but detection of overhanging obstructions generally is not possible employing such devices.
Therefore, a need exists for a device that minimizes or eliminates limitations associated with being able to detect only structures that extend from the ground.